Judge holds up settlement to Bremen schools chief

June 30, 2010

A Cook County judge today held up payment of a $220,000 settlement to a Bremen Township school board official who had sued the board for trying to keep him from taking his seat after his election in 2007.

The settlement itself is the target of a lawsuit alleging that Bremen Township Board of Trustees President Joseph Bertrand Jr., who would receive the settlement, violated public policy when he sat in on negotiations over the settlement he stood to benefit from.

Judge James Epstein said the money would be put in a trust account until he ordered otherwise.

The lawsuit, filed in Cook County Circuit Court on Monday, also claims the board violated state law by awarding a settlement to one of its members.

According to the settlement agreement, Bertrand and his attorneys were to receive a check for $110,000 by Thursday and another in the same amount before Jan. 1.

After Epstein's ruling holding up payment, Bertrand's attorney, Anthony Scariano, said that didn't "make any difference."

"We're going to win this anyway," he said.

The three-member Board of Trustees is funded by seven south suburban school districts to handle their collective assets and jurisdictional disputes.

Bertrand sued the board after it refused to seat him following his victory in an April 2007 general election. Two years later, a judge decided the board did not have the legal authority to refuse to seat him.

Bertrand, who is executive director of parks and recreation for the Hazel Crest Park District, has denied any wrongdoing.

According to the lawsuit challenging the settlement, filed by the Bremen Community High School District and the Forest Ridge School District, Bertrand twice seconded motions to award himself the settlement, although he abstained from voting.

Bertrand's attorneys claim that the board -- without Bertrand's input -- decided to settle the lawsuit in June to prevent further litigation if Bertrand decided to appeal.